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Home My WebLink About150-23 RESOLUTION113 West Mountain Street Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 Resolution: 150-23 File Number: 2023-874 FILL VACANCY FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER / WARD ONE, POSITION ONE (RESOLUTION): A RESOLUTION TO CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 14, 2023 TO FILL A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR WARD ONE, POSITION ONE OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE WHEREAS, a vacancy in the office of the Council Member of Ward One, Position One occurred on July 1, 2023, in the City of Fayetteville; and WHEREAS, pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b) the Fayetteville City Council has voted to call a special election to fill this vacancy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby calls a special election to fill the vacancy for a Council Member in Ward One, Position One of the City of Fayetteville for November 14, 2023. Section 2: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby determines that the circulation period for petitions of candidacy shall begin on July 11, 2023 and end at noon on July 25, 2023 when all official petitions for municipal candidates shall be provided by any person seeking to be a candidate to the Washington County Clerk's Office. The ballot position drawing shall be conducted on or before August 1, 2023, at the place, date and time selected by the Washington County Election Commission. PASSED and APPROVED on July 6, 2023 Page 1 Attest: Kara Paxton, C4Crkreasurer c�:� • CITY0 •`rG�% . ya tAYE- jr VIf.1_i_ • y �,• h11NsP•••��. 0N CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE ARKANSAS MEETING OF JULY 6, 2023 TO: Mayor Jordan and City Council THRU: CITY COUNCIL MEMO 2023-874 FROM: Kit Williams, City Attorney DATE: SUBJECT: Resolution to Fill Vacancy in the Office of the City Council Member for Ward One, Position One RECOMMENDATION: BACKGROUND: DISCUSSION: BUDGET/STAFF IMPACT: ATTACHMENTS: City Attorney Memo - Filling Vacancy in Ward One, Position One, Agenda Request Form Mailing address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville, AR 72701 == City of Fayetteville, Arkansas y 113 West Mountain Street Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479)575-8323 - Legislation Text File #: 2023-874 Resolution to Fill Vacancy in the Office of the City Council Member for Ward One, Position One A RESOLUTION TO CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 14, 2023 TO FILL A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR WARD ONE, POSITION ONE OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE WHEREAS, a vacancy in the office of the Council Member of Ward One, Position One occurred on July 1, 2023, in the City of Fayetteville; and WHEREAS, pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-41 l(b) the Fayetteville City Council has voted to call a special election to fill this vacancy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby calls a special election to fill the vacancy for a Council Member in Ward One, Position One of the City of Fayetteville for November 14, 2023. Section 2: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby determines that the circulation period for petitions of candidacy shall begin on July 11, 2023 and end at noon on July 25, 2023 when all official petitions for municipal candidates shall be provided by any person seeking to be a candidate to the Washington County Clerk's Office. The ballot position drawing shall be conducted on or before August 1, 2023, at the place, date and time selected by the Washington County Election Commission. Page 1 IRI OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE Kit Williams City Attorney TO: Mayor Jordan Blake Pennington City Council Assistant City Attorney Jodi Batker CC: Susan Norton, Chief of Staff Paralegal FROM: Kit Williams, City Attorney DATE: June 1, 2023 RE: Motion and Resolutions for Council Member Harvey's Upcoming Vacancy To facilitate the parliamentary procedure for the City Council to address the vacancy because of Council Member Sonia Harvey's resignation of her Ward 1 position, I have attached two Resolutions to be decided upon at the July 6`11 City Council meeting. One Resolution would elect a replacement Council Member by City Council vote on July 6th. The other option would be a Resolution to call for a Special Election to elect a new Council Member on November 14, 2023, which is the only legal date to schedule this Special Election this year. A.C.A. § 7-11-105(A) states: "(A)11 special elections to fill vacancies in office ... shall be held on the second Tuesday of: February, May, August or November...." Subsection (d) states: "A special election to fill a vacancy in office shall be held not less than seventy (70) days following the date ... for drawing ballot position." Allowing the couple of weeks needed to circulate election petitions prior to drawing for ballot positions would leave less than a month prior to the August election date rather than the required 70 day minimum. Therefore, the earliest allowable legal date for the Special Election is November 14, 2023. The first issue that should be addressed is the City Council's choice between electing a replacement Council Member themselves or referring the decision to a Special Election so that Ward One voters could elect their Council Member. This should be done by a City Council Member moving either: (1) To elect a Council Member by the City Council to serve the unexpired term of former Council Member Sonia Harvey; or (2) To call for a special election to elect a new council member to replace former Council Member Sonia Harvey. This initial motion is an internal motion such as a motion to table and is dependent upon the number of Council Members present and voting. The Mayor may as usual vote if "the Mayor's vote is needed to pass any ordinance, by-law, resolution, order or motion." A.C.A. § 14-43-501(b). If any Council Member is absent on July 6th, then only four votes would be needed to pass this motion as the members in attendance (including Mayor Jordan) would total only seven for this internal motion. Either Resolution, however, shall continue to require five affirmative votes to pass pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-55-203 Voting requirements for passage. "To pass any by-law, ordinance or resolution... , a concurrence of majority of the whole number of members elected to the council shall be required." This is slightly altered by A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b)(1) which requires a "majority vote of the remaining members elected to the council.... " As "this language would include the Mayor since he is an ex officio member of the council," Gibson v. City of Trumann, 311 Ark 561, 562, 845 S.W.2d 515, 516 (1993); the Mayor must also be counted when determining the number of "remaining members elected to the council" which would be eight. Thus, five affirmative votes (which could include a vote by Mayor Jordan) would be needed to pass either Resolution. Please keep in mind that the state statute says: "at the first regular meeting after the occurrence of the vacancy, the city council shall proceed to either elect by majority vote of the remaining members elected to the council a council member to serve for the unexpired term or call for a special election ...." A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b)(1) (emphasis added). Therefore, the City Council has a mandatory duty to either elect a new council member or call a special election at the July 6, 2023 meeting. 2 RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION TO ELECT AS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR WARD ONE, POSITION ONE OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE WHEREAS, a vacancy in the office of the Council Member of Ward One, Position One occurred on July 1, 2023 in the City of Fayetteville; and WHEREAS, the City Council pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b) has voted to elect as the replacement City Council Member for Ward One, Position One. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby elects to the office of City Council Member of Ward One, Position One in the City of Fayetteville pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b) to serve the remainder of the previous Council Member's term. PASSED and APPROVED this 6th day of July 2023. APPROVED: al ATTEST: LIONELD JORDAN, Mayor KARA PAXTON, City Clerk/Treasurer RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION TO CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 14, 2023 TO FILL A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR WARD ONE, POSITION ONE OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE WHEREAS, a vacancy in the office of the Council Member of Ward One, Position One occurred on July 1, 2023, in the City of Fayetteville; and WHEREAS, pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b) the Fayetteville City Council has voted to call a special election to fill this vacancy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby calls a special election to fill the vacancy for a Council Member in Ward One, Position One of the City of Fayetteville for November 14, 2023. Section 2: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby determines that the circulation period for petitions of candidacy shall begin on July 11, 2023 and end at noon on July 25, 2023 when all official petitions for municipal candidates shall be provided by any person seeking to be a candidate to the Washington County Clerk's Office. The ballot position drawing shall be conducted on or before August 1, 2023, at the place, date and time selected by the Washington County Election Commission. PASSED and APPROVED this 6t" day of July, 2023. APPROVED: ATTEST: I0 LOW LIONELD JORDAN, Mayor KARA PAXTON, City Clerk/Treasurer Legistar ID No.: 2021-0836 AGENDA REQUEST FORM FOR: Council Meeting of July 6, 2023 FROM: Mayor Lioneld Jordan ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION TITLE AND SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION TO DECLARE A VACANCY IN WARD ONE, POSITION TWO AND TO DETERMINE HOW THE VACANCY SHALL BE FILLED APPROVED FORAGENQA: ayor Lio ordan City Attorney Kit Williams Da Date 113 West Mountain Street r. =` � Fayetteville, AR 72701 _ (479) 575-8323 Resolution: 150-23 File Number: 2023-874 FILL VACANCY FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER / WARD ONE, POSITION ONE (RESOLUTION): A RESOLUTION TO CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 14, 2023 TO FILL A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR WARD ONE, POSITION ONE OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE WHEREAS, a vacancy in the office of the Council Member of Ward One, Position One occurred on July 1, 2023, in the City of Fayetteville; and WHEREAS, pursuant to A.C.A. § 14-43-411(b) the Fayetteville City Council has voted to call a special election to fill this vacancy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby calls a special election to fill the vacancy for a Council Member in Ward One, Position One of the City of Fayetteville for November 14, 2023. Section 2: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby determines that the circulation period for petitions of candidacy shall begin on July 11, 2023 and end at noon on July 25, 2023 when all official petitions for municipal candidates shall be provided by any person seeking to be a candidate to the Washington County Clerk's Office. The ballot position drawing shall be conducted on or before August 1, 2023, at the place, date and time selected by the Washington County Election Commission. PASSED and APPROVED on July 6, 2023 Ppyo 1 Attest: 1,'�agtSFtf,g�� K /7 F Kara Paxton, City Cl -rk Treasurer •� T rl i( -f " e f V. • '.